Seeking to allay fears over the possible health problems associated with playing games in 3D, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said that his company's upcoming 3DS handheld will have a "toggle", allowing users to switch between 2D and 3D.

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From a legal standpoint, it's a solid decision. There are many people with conditions that mean playing in 3D is either painful or just doesn't work, so having the option of playing games in 2D gets around this problem easily.

But what does it mean for 3D games? If there's an "off" switch for the technology, does that mean the games won't make fundamental use of it, since they'll need to be designed to run in both 2D and 3D? That'd reduce the tech to a mere gimmick.

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Or will it mean that some games will need to be marked "3D Only", meaning those who can't play in 3D (or don't want to) are straight out of luck?

It's a messy situation to find yourself in. Then again, when it comes to the transition to 3D entertainment, messy seems par for the course.